Zombie Shakespeare

From the people who brought you Hamlet the Vampire Slayer (no, really) comes Romeo & Juliet vs. The Living Dead. On Friday, March 13, Guild Cinema will host the premiere screening of this locally shot horror comedy. The film is directed by Ryan Denmark and stars Hannah Kauffmann, Jason Witter, Mark Chavez, Kate Schroeder, Kevin R. Elder and a whole host of familiar Albuquerque actors. Screenings will be at 7 and 9 p.m. and are absolutely free. Seating is limited, though. If you haven’t already sent your RSVP, you might be SOL. Give it a shot, though, by sending a request for tickets to rj@thirdstarfilms.com. If you can’t get in, you can at least scope out the trailer by logging on to thirdstarfilms.com. Congratulations, by the way, to all involved for another successfully completed local indie feature!

Who watches the watchmen? We do!

By Devin D. O’Leary

In the years since its publication (1986 to be exact), writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons’ groundbreaking graphic novel Watchmen has become something of a holy writ of illustrated lit. Referred to as The Catcher in the Rye of comic books, Watchmen has become a necessary right of passage for anyone who claims to love the superhero genre and arguably the most important point of reference (Frank Miller’s Batman:The Dark Knight Returns being the other contender) among nerdy intelligentsia. So it is with both crushing trepidation and manic anticipation that fans have awaited director Zack Snyder’s filmic adaptation.

Not a fan? These are not the droids you’re looking for.

By Devin D. O’Leary

Arriving a full three years after it was shot here in New Mexico and with all the attendant timeliness of a Jennifer Wilbanks joke (oh, how quickly we forget), Fanboys finally stumbles into Albuquerque theaters. Aimed squarely at the titular demographic, the film is a genial love letter to Star Wars geekdom disguised as a mildly raunchy road movie.

“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on NBC

By Devin D. O’Leary

The late-night airwaves are going through a major sea change, at least on NBC. After a run of nearly 17 years on “The Tonight Show,” Jay Leno is making a rather surprising move, bringing his mainstream-America style of chat show to NBC’s prime time lineup five nights a week. That means that Conan O’Brien is getting bumped up a slot, abandoning “Late Night” and taking over Leno’s old gig as host of “The Tonight Show.” (That’s scheduled to take place later this summer.) Of course, that historic changing of the guard leaves a power vacuum back on David Letterman’s former “Late Night” haunt. As a result, NBC executives have reached into their network talent pool and plucked Jimmy Fallon from “Saturday Night Live” (a gig he gave up in 2006). Fallon debuted on “Late Night” last week to generally solid numbers (his first show beat time slot rival Craig Ferguson by 35 percent) and kind (if not exactly glowing) reviews.